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Tag Archives: Paul Pierce
The Myth of Danger
Every year as the playoffs approach one thing is guaranteed. A team or two always gets marked as “the team no one should want to face.” The teams normally fall into one of two categories. First the young up and coming team that does something better than anyone else in the league. Think the Grizzlies of a few years ago, who excelled at the slowdown grind it out game because of an elite defense. … Continue reading
Game of the Week: Miami Heat at Boston Celtics
Hello again, Hickory High. Sorry I wasn’t around last week. I was in Istanbul. And the first thing I saw when I got out of the airport was a giant poster of Hedo Turkoglu, the Turkish Michael Jordan. Hedo gets a pretty bad rap because we feel he hasn’t reached his potential. There were moments when he was in Orlando when it seemed like he could be a key player on a contender, but … Continue reading
Weekly Stats Recap
Thanks to the All Star Break, we’ve got a Weekly Stats Recap with 43% more stats for you to enjoy. But before we dive into the week’s oddities, let’s determine how important the distribution of assists is to a team’s success rate. Jared Dubin (@JADubin5), the founder of HoopChalk and Co-EIC of Hardwood Paroxysm, was curious as to the impact of having many good distributors. To answer this question, I charted the number of … Continue reading
New Look Celtics
Last night the Boston Celtics beat the Denver Nuggets in triple overtime, 118-114, stretching their win streak to seven games since Rajon Rondo went down with a season-ending knee injury. At the time, removing the Celtics’ All-Star point guard seemed like a fatal blow to a team that was already struggling to keep their heads above water. Despite a slew of off-season additions, efficient offense has been just as elusive as ever in Boston. … Continue reading
Weekly Stats Recap
Thanks to Utah Jazz fan, Taylor Berthelson (@utahmankiyi), this week’s study was devoted to determining the importance of the first quarter to the game result. I used years of data to determine that winning teams typically performed well in the first quarter earlier this week, but it doesn’t hurt to add some 2012-2013 statistics to prove the trend true for this season. Taylor estimated that 60% of teams that win the first quarter win the … Continue reading
Weekly Stats Recap
This week I thought I’d take a look at the shot taking/making of offenses “at the rim” and behind the arc. Theoretically, offenses work hard to get a good look from one of these spots on very possession, and I was curious which had a greater impact on the game. My hypothesis was that winning teams would have the consistent edge “at the rim” while the three point shooting would be something of a … Continue reading
Weekly Stats Recap
This week I had a stat request from Jesse Silverman (@JesseBeau), a Cortland intramural champion and defending March Madness king. He wondered if the number of double digit scorers was directly correlated to victories, guessing that winning teams would have more double digit scorers in each game. As it turns out, there was not a considerable difference in the number of players in double figures for winning and losing teams. Over this holiday week … Continue reading
Game of the Week: Christmas Extravaganza
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. I’m a glutton. But on Thanksgiving, I had to watch the New England Patriots hold the heads of their alleged rivals, the New York Jets, in a toilet bowl for three hours. It was a nightmare. That’s why Christmas is a close, close second, and it easily beats out Thanksgiving when it comes to viewing pleasure. The NBA has lovingly provided us with 12 hours of … Continue reading
Weekly Stats Recap
This week’s study was suggested by college basketball guru and FSWA (Fantasy Sports Writers Association) gate keeper Perry Missner (@PerryMissner). He is a passionate basketball fan and his suggestion led to some very interesting results. Perry wondered which was more directly correlated to success: quantity or quality when it comes to field goal attempts. I ventured a guess that FG% would be a better predictor, but figured it would be a close study. After … Continue reading
